WILMINGTON — A former Sabina police officer received a nine-month prison term Tuesday for theft in office and, in a separate case, for grand theft.

When Olin R. Mills, 44, was a Sabina policeman, he took money from the village of Sabina’s drug investigation funds. From late October 2014 to mid-August 2015, Mills was responsible for the village police department’s drug-buy fund used in undercover drug purchases.

According to an audit of the village, a $1,040 finding for recovery was issued against Mills.

The amount of money Mills embezzled in the grand theft case was “significant,” said Clinton County Common Pleas Judge John W. “Tim” Rudduck. As bookkeeper for the Bolen Construction Company, Mills stole $41,712 from the business.

Assistant Clinton County Prosecutor Lindsey M. Fleissner and Rudduck said the defendant betrayed positions of trust he held in both situations — as a peace officer for Sabina and as a person handling the finances for a business.

In Mills’ favor for sentencing purposes, he had no prior criminal history and he has cashed in his pension funds to pay back $14,500 to the business victim.

Going against him, however, were the amount of money he took; the fact he occupied positions of trust in both cases; reportedly not showing remorse; he was assessed as a “moderate” risk for repeat offending according to a standardized report; and he resides in West Virginia making local supervision “impractical,” said the judge.

Rudduck said during the hearing, “I’m always curious about how a gentleman who’s lived — according to this PSI [Pre-Sentence Investigation report] — a law-abiding life up until you became a police officer, gets himself in situations such as this.”

Rudduck gave Mills an opportunity to speak in court on his own behalf prior to the sentencing being announced, but Mills declined.

In addition to a number of unauthorized checks, Fleissner said Mills in his job as bookkeeper for the Sabina construction business made 97 unauthorized withdrawals from ATMs.

She said the defendant used the money to buy personal things, pay bills, and put a down payment on a car.

The assistant prosecutor also said the PSI report shows Mills not being apologetic, but he instead pointed blame at other people.

Prosecution was seeking a county jail term of 180 days (six months); the defendant’s court-appointed attorney Richard L. Federle requested that Mills be placed on community controls.

Fleissner told the judge that two reasons prosecution didn’t argue for more than six months incarceration are Mills’ prior lack of a criminal record and because the business victim would like to receive as much of the restitution as possible.

After paying the $14,500 to partly reimburse the construction company, Mills still owes the business $27,212 to make it whole. He was ordered to pay the balance as restitution.